Towel cabinet



Dec. 11 1923.

F. M. STEINER'ET AL rowan 013mm Filed Sent. 5, 1922 3 Sheets-Shut 2 w 1. .036 Y HE E mm Wm NE! a m .0 r 5M Dec. 11, 1923.

F. M. STEINER ET AL TOWEL CABINET Filed Sent. 5. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 JNVEN TORG FRANK M STE/Nan Mars? 5 .Br f M1 6 U4 GRHVEJ mm lrron NEY's Patented D... 11, 1923.

FRANK M. STEINER AND WALTER S. GRAVES, OF SIGNORS TO STEINER SALES COMPANY, OF SALT TION OF UTAH.

MINNEAPOLIS, umuiaso'm, AS- LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORA- TOWEL CABINET.

Application filed September 5, 1922. Serial No. 586,220.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK M; STEINER and IVALTER S. GRAVES, citizens of the United States, residents of Minneapolis,

Hennepin County, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a cabinet adapted to contain a reserve roll of clean toweling in addition to the one that is being used to the end that the cabinet will not require as frequent attention by the janitor as it would if equipped with only one towel roll.

A further object is to provide a cabinet in which provision is made for convenient access to the towel rolls.

A further object is to provide separate compartments for the soiled toweling to prevent the soiled portion of one towel becoming twisted or entangled with-the corresponding portion of the other 'towel and making it diflicult to remove one soiled 85 towel without also pulling out the soiled -end of the clean towel in use, and thereby unfoldin and tangling both towels.

A furfiier object is to arrange the compartments and towelin so that the soiled towel will drop in fol s and fold up as it falls into the soiled towel compartment. thus making it more convenient for the janitor and laundry driver to handle, and more economical at the laundry to wind and prepare for Washing.

A further object is to provide means whereby the reserve towels must be brought in contact with the measuring and stopping device when the user places it in position for use, the contact being made in such manner that the measuring and stopping device will operate.

A further object is to provide improved means to be actuated by the user for locking theclean towel roll and limiting the movement thereof when a pull is applied to the c ean toweling. 7

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description.

The invention consists generally in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a towel cabinet embodying our invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the cabinet.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a sectional View on the line 44 of Figure 3.'

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view of the locking device.

Figure 6 is a detailed sectional view showing'a modified form of locking device in its normal position.

' Figure 7 is a detailed sectional view of the locking device in its release position.

Figures 8 and 9 are detailed sectional views of another form of locking device shown in its normal and release ositions.

Figures 10 and 11 are detailed sectional views of still another form of locking de vice shown in its normal and release positions.

In the drawings 2 represents "the side Walls of the cabinet having suitable sup= porting legs 3, a rear wall 4 and a front wall 5. In the top, the cabinet has an opening 6 through which the user may have ac cess to the clean towel. In the rear of this opening we arrange a cl'eari"towel carrier 7 eccentrically mounted in the side wall of the cabinet on a pivotsti.

his carrier has two compartments or chambers 9 and 10 separated by a hinged gate 11. In these compartments rolls of clean towe-ling 9 and 10* are placed. the upper compartment being adjacent to a feed roll 12 mounted in bearings in the upper portion of the carrier and having a friction surface 13 over which the clean towel passes.

A plate 14 is preferably hinged to the top of the cabinet and depends in front of the feed roll resting upon a stop 15 and normally concealing and protecting said feed roll and in this plate a mirror 16 is preferably mounted for the convenience of the users of the cabinet. A gap is provided between the lower portion of the carrier 7 and the front wall of the cabinet through which gap the soiled towel is directed into the lowerportion of the cabinet. A guide wall 17 is provided at the front of the cabinet for directing the soiled portion of the towel therein and this wall also serves as a stop to prevent the hands of the user from moving down too far and withdrawing an unneeessary length of towel from the roll.

A stop pin 18 is mounted in the peripheral surface of the feed roll. A yoke 19 is pivoted at 20 on the wall of the cabinet and has arms 21 and 22 thereon. The arm 21 is normally engaged with the pin 18 to check revolution of the feed roll. A push rod 23 i is pivotally connected with the yoke 19 and projects out through the wall of the carrier and has a push button normally held in its retracted position by a spring'25. hen this push rod is pushed in by the user the yoke 20 will be rocked and dis engaged from the pin 18 and thereupon the user may pull the towel and revolve the feed roll. Should the user immediately release the push rod the spring Will return it to its normal position and engage the pin 18 and check the feed roll after one revolution but should the user continue pressure on the push rod after releasing the yoke as indicated in Figure 5 the pin 18 will engage the arm 22 and revolution of the feed roll will be checked before the desired length of towel has been delivered. It is necessary, therefore, for the user to immediately release the push rod if he wishes to obtain a suitable length of towel for wiping urposes.

In the lower portion of the ca. inet we provide two soiled towel compartments 26 and27 separated by a vertical partition 28. The towel as it is delivered to these compart ments falls in folds as indicated in Figure 1 and for the convenience of the laundry man we prefer to divide the soiledtoweling allowing it to accumulate in folds in the separate compartments instead of depositing both rolls in one compartment. Access to these soiled towel chambers or compartments is obtained through a suitable door 29 in the side wall of the cabinet. For the purpose of automatically directing the soiled toweling to these diiierent compartments we provide a gate 30 supported by a horizontal pivot 30 in the side wall of the cabinet preferably within a suitable box or casing 31. A yoke 32 is mounted on the pivot 30* and has a slot 33 therein rovided with cam surfaces 33 and 33'. link 34 projects into the casing 31 and has a pin 35 at one en projecting into t e slot 33. At the other end the link 34-is pivotally connected with the towel carrier 7 at 36. The gate 30 is shifted back and forth by the movement of the towel carrier in the following manner. Figure 1 represents the normal position of the carrier and gate with the soiled towel being 2 1 thereon and is d by delivered to the forward compartment 26. Assuming now that this compartment has been filled and it is desired to direct the soiled towel of another roll to the other compartment 27 the user will swin the carrier from the position shown in Figure 1 forward to the position shown in Figure 3. This movement of the carrier will raise the pivotal connection of the link 34 with the carrier from the point shown in Figure 1 to the position in Figure 3 and this movement will raise the pin 35 at the lower end of the link 34 up into contact with the cam surface 33 of the yoke 32 and swing said yoke on its pivot and move the gate 30 from the full line position in Figure 1 to the full line position in Figure 3 and thereupon the opening to the front wall towel compartment will be closed and the rear soiled towel compartment opened. The person in charge of the cabinet will then place the reserve towel roll in the upper compartment and pass its loose end over the feed roll then raise the carrier to a vertical position and the cabinet is ready for use again, the soiled towel falling into the base of the cabinet being directed by the gate 30 into the rear compartment. It will be understood that when the person in charge of the cabinet raises the carrier from the position shown in Figure 3 to its upright position that the gate 30 will not be affected by such movement, the pin 35 moving to the lower portion of the slot in the yoke without engaging either of the cam surfaces or moving the yoke but upon the next movement of the carrier, the pin 35 will engage the cam 33 and the position of'the gate will again be changed and the passage opened to the forward towel compartment. In this way we are able to keep the soiled towels separate for convenience in handling by the laundry man without any attention on the part of the person in charge of the cabinet and there is no manual adjustment oi gates or mechanism required to direct the soiled towel to the difierent com artments.

In Figures 6 and 7 we have shown a modified construction-of the locking device. The feed roll37 is shown having a socket 38 therein and a sprin 39 and a pin or 40 that is normally heli tion by the spring 39. A stop 41 is provided on the wall of thecabinet in the path of the plunger pin and a push pin 42 is mounted in the wall 43 normally retracted by a spring 44 and adapted to be pressed in the user to disengage the plunger from the stop 41. As soon as'thishas been 'done the user may pull the towel and revolve the roll one revolutiion, Then the plunger will strike the stop 41 and be arrested. the user should keep his finger on the push pin the plunger will strike the pin at the end of the first revolution and movement of inits projects posiv 1 has exerted a pull the feed roll be checked. In F i res 8 and 9 we have shown a modification w ich consists in mounting a dog 45 in the feed roll normally held in its projected position by a spring 46 to engage the stop 41. This dog is moved out of engagement with the stop b pressure on the push pin as described wit reference to Figures 6 and 7.

In Figures 10 and 11 we have shown another modification which consists in providing' a slide 47 having a slot 418 therein to receive the shaft 49 of the feed roll. A spring 50 normally holds the slide in its projected position. Stops 51 and 52 are provided on the slide and a pin 53 is mounted in the end of the feed roll in position to normally contact with the stop 51 and check movement of the roll. When the slide is pushed in to the ition shown in Figure 11 and immediate y released after the user on the towel, the stop 51 will be moved out of the path of the pin 53 and the feed roll may make a complete revolution, but should the user continue to press in on the slide the feed roll will be checked at the end of a half revolution by contact with the stop 52. It will therefore be necessary for the user to release the slide if he wishes to obtain a full wiping length of the towel.

We claim as our invention:

1. A towel holder comprising a, carrier adapted to receive rolls of clean towel, means over which the web of clean towel is delivered to the user, said carrier having a tilt ing movement to allow access thereto for the deposit of clean rolls of towel therein, said holder having soiled. towel compartments below said carrier and means positioned by.

the movement of said carrier for closing the passage to one compartment and opening the passage to the other compartment.

2. A towel holder comprising a carrier adapted to contain a plurality of clean towel rolls, a feed roll over which the clean towel is delivered to the user, said carrier having a limited movement to allow access to the clean towels, said holder having soiled towel compartments below said carrier, one for each roll of towcling, and means positioned by the movement of said carrier for closing the passage to one towel compartment and opening the passage to the other towel compartment.

3. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having forward and rear soiled towel compartments in its lower portion and a, partition between them, the upper portion of said casing having an opening for access to the clean towel, a towel carrier mounted in said casing in the rear of said opening and adapted to contain rolls of toweling one above the other, a feed roll in the upper or tion of said carrier over which the cean towel is delivered to the user, a gap being towel compartment an provided between the lower portion of said carrier and the wall of said casing through which the soiledtowel is directed to the compartments beneath.and in which compartment the towel is delivered in horizontal folds, one upon the other, the soiled towel of one roll bein directed to one towel compartment and t e soiled towel of the other roll to the other compartment.

4?. A towel ca'binet comprising a casing having soiled towel compartments in its lower portion and an opening in its upper walls through which access may be had to the clean towel, a towel carrier in the rear of said opening having compartments for rolls of clean toweling and mounted to tilt forwardly through said opening to expose said, chambers and permit the insertion of the clean rolls of towel therein, a feed roll mounted in the up r portion of said carrier and over who the clean towel is directed within reach of the user, said carrier being nor-mall in a vertical position within said casing w en the cabinet is in use, an opening being portion of said carrier and the wall of said casing through which the soiled towel is dirooted to said soiled towel compartment.

5. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening in its upper walls through which access maybehad to the clean towel, the lower portion of said cabinet having compartments for the towel carrier mounted in said casing in the rear of said opening and from which the towel is delivered to the user, there being compartments in said carrier fora plurality of rolls of toweling, a gate for closing the passage to one or the other of said soiled towel compartments in the bottom of said casing, and mechanism actuated by the movement of said carrier for positioning said gate to close the assage' to one soiled (i open the passage to the other compartment.

6. A towel cabinet comprising a casin having an openingin its upper front wal and a soiled towel compartment in its lower walls, a clean towel carrier pivoted within said casing in the rear of said opening and adapted to tilt forwardly through said opening, said carrier having chambers therein for rolk of clean toweling, a shelf between said compartments hinged to swin forwardly upon the carrier being tilted forwardly whereby to permit movement of the rear roll of toweling into the forward compartment, accessible when said carrier is tilted forwardly, and means over which the web of clean toweling is fed tosaid opening and the user. i

7. A towel cabinet, comprising a. casing having opening in its upper front walls, a towel carrier supported in said casing in the rear of said opening, and having chambers provided between the lower soiled towel, a

for rolls of clean 'towelin g, a shelf between said compartments hinged to swing for wardly u n the carriei' wardly w 5 rear roll of toweling 1nto being tilted forereby to permit movement of the the forward compartment, said earner being adagted to move forwardly through access to said chambers on said opemng for d the clean toweling, a. feed r011 mounted in the upper portion of said carrier, and over which the web 19 of clean towel passes to said opening and the user.

Inwitness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands this 1st daof September 1922. FRA K M. STEINER.

WALTER S. GRAVES. 

